03-12-2008, 11:43 PM
You know, we're tubes. Human beings are basically just tubes. Well, we're not quite that simple. We have noses, ears, eyes, and a couple routes out the bottom. This gives us a certain amount of sophistication -- especially when you consider that each of these egresses holds the possibility for leakage.
Now, in the wrong hands, leakage can be disgusting. In the proper hands, it can be funny. In Stephen Chow's hands, it is almost guaranteed to be disgusting, funny and perverse. He'll put together scenes you just wouldn't expect to see in cinema. For instance, you wouldn't expect a toilet seat to play a recurring role in a movie. But he does it. And eventually you start looking forward to that toilet seat.
I'm trying very hard not to give anything away; thus all this vague talk about leakage. What I will say is that Lady Cranefly and myself laughed out loud on several occasions, as well as let out some horrific gasps at some taboo sights.
In summary, the movie was about what I had hoped for. I couldn't imagine it being brilliant, and it's not. It owes heavily to ET (which Chow credits in interviews as a masterpiece). But it is all over the map, in its pacing, in the tone, in the direction, in just about everything. Some of the humor is so Chinese that it's a stretch for me to imagine anyone laughing at it. For instance, there's the big school girl who's probably 6'8" and over 400 pounds -- and clearly played by a huge guy. With all the makeup and the tiny girl voice, he/she just seems ... disturbing. Oddly enough, the boy protagonist is played brilliantly by a girl (Chow did something like 15000 screen tests before discovering her). As for the alien, it mostly won me over -- though its absurdist elements could turn a lot of people off.
From what I understand, this movie was 4 years in the making. That is very troubling. it is troubling because this seems like a minor movie for Chow. Still, he had to figure out a lot of things to tackle this new genre (science fiction). But I really want Chow to pick up the pace, be more prolific. Because the Stephen Chows of this world are few and far between.
A final comment about target audience. Who is this movie for? I mean, here in the States it is subtitled -- which puts it out of reach of many young kids. While it does have entertainment value for adults, I don't know.... I just don't see it doing well outside of Hong Kong.
I hope I'm wrong.
Now, in the wrong hands, leakage can be disgusting. In the proper hands, it can be funny. In Stephen Chow's hands, it is almost guaranteed to be disgusting, funny and perverse. He'll put together scenes you just wouldn't expect to see in cinema. For instance, you wouldn't expect a toilet seat to play a recurring role in a movie. But he does it. And eventually you start looking forward to that toilet seat.
I'm trying very hard not to give anything away; thus all this vague talk about leakage. What I will say is that Lady Cranefly and myself laughed out loud on several occasions, as well as let out some horrific gasps at some taboo sights.
In summary, the movie was about what I had hoped for. I couldn't imagine it being brilliant, and it's not. It owes heavily to ET (which Chow credits in interviews as a masterpiece). But it is all over the map, in its pacing, in the tone, in the direction, in just about everything. Some of the humor is so Chinese that it's a stretch for me to imagine anyone laughing at it. For instance, there's the big school girl who's probably 6'8" and over 400 pounds -- and clearly played by a huge guy. With all the makeup and the tiny girl voice, he/she just seems ... disturbing. Oddly enough, the boy protagonist is played brilliantly by a girl (Chow did something like 15000 screen tests before discovering her). As for the alien, it mostly won me over -- though its absurdist elements could turn a lot of people off.
From what I understand, this movie was 4 years in the making. That is very troubling. it is troubling because this seems like a minor movie for Chow. Still, he had to figure out a lot of things to tackle this new genre (science fiction). But I really want Chow to pick up the pace, be more prolific. Because the Stephen Chows of this world are few and far between.
A final comment about target audience. Who is this movie for? I mean, here in the States it is subtitled -- which puts it out of reach of many young kids. While it does have entertainment value for adults, I don't know.... I just don't see it doing well outside of Hong Kong.
I hope I'm wrong.